The Terrible Twos- the good, the bad, the ugly

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Chapter 59-Food for Thought

It’s been a while since this has been yelled across the kitchen. And, like his alter-ego, there’s nothing this pre-schooler enjoys more than putting people straight-including professional chefs.

That’s Chef Ramsay to you.

Despite his eagerness to keep an eye on the chefs, this week he has surprised us all by managing to eat a meal in a restaurant. This is a milestone for us-no screaming, no throwing, and no running off.

Raffie’s passion for cooking is flourishing, from baking biscuits to making something I cannot put a name to with tea leaves, macaroni and rice.

But restaurants have never been his cup of tea. In the hope of one day being able to go for a coffee, or even lunch with friends, we are persevering.

Thanks to the team at Ed’s Diner’s generosity of spirit, and a jukebox full of rock and roll music, we were able to get through the meal without having a meltdown.

Old school rock and roll.

Discovering the jukebox was the first step, and after selecting Great Balls of Fire he drank his milkshake and interrogated the man in the next booth about whether he was enjoying his dinner.

The aftermath of a lemon.

After managing to eat he was able to go and watch some other chefs at work, with his free hat and a bucketful of advice which was patiently received on a busy Saturday evening.

Little chef.

The next morning was spent playing chef, though none of us have been brave enough to sample the slightly dubious concoction of flour, pear, stock cubes and gravy.

Remembering to clean up.

And just like Chef Ramsay, he is setting his sights high. “I want to be a chef Mummy, I want to spend all day in the kitchen.” He may not be ready to spend 12 hours standing in the kitchen just yet.

But for the first time we’ve been to a restaurant without Raffie making a meal of it. And now he’s looking forward to showing us all how it’s done a lot more often.

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22 thoughts on “Chapter 59-Food for Thought”

Eating out with children s hard, we always try to go to places we know are child friendly as it makes such a difference, but now we can take them anywhere and they are brilliant. Love the hat, he looks like he’s in his element. #magicmoments

Hello there, thank you so much-we are really aiming to do the same and be able to enjoy meals out rather than run around during them! It’ll take a bit of doing but with any luck we will get there in the end. x

My little one is 6 and we have been eating in restaurants since he has been small. He absolutely loves buffets and carveries, and orders for himself from menus. I think if kids are used to doing stuff like this it’s second nature. We love it.

It’s always a celebratory moment when you can go out for a meal with your toddler and not have any issues. It looks like the restaurant you went to was a perfect place for Raffie to be his curious self without getting in the way of anyone. Popping over from Magic Moments.

Hello there, lovely to hear from you. Yes they were really good and it made all the difference that they were so helpful and kind. We are currently planning our next meal out and just looking for somewhere family friendly! x

Congrats on this achievement, it certainly sounds like it’s been a LiNG time coming! I took my hubby to The Ivy for luch on his 30th and we had our eldest in tow who’d just turned one. It was not fun and we were in and out within an hour! Five years and two more kids later, we hardly ever eat out. Saying that though we do have lunch plans this week for our anniversary… Wish me luck!! #magicmoments

Hello there, thank you so much and it certainly has been a very long time-it’s taken a while to get the gumption to return to an eaterie! But we were pleasantly surprised for once! Congratulations on your anniversary, and I hope it all goes well for you! xxx

We have persevered with the restaurant thing, with all three of ours, and it has paid off as we can now (almost always) get through a nice meal with no tantrums and actually eat out quite often. You do need to get through those first few disasters though 🙂 Here’s to more successful meals out xx

I think that ALL kiddies need to have a few restaurant incidents before they begin to behave like normal human beings! IT’s all worth it though so hopefully you reached that milestone. Loved his little apron in the photo!

Great hat. We have always gone out a lot to each and socializing for lunches or dinners so the kids are so used to it. But I do know my friends struggle keeping them entertained and happy at the table for so long. But everyone has a few disasters eating out with kids I have been there with my two too. lol Thanks for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme

Yay for eating out at restaurants! We go to pizza express, it’s never very relaxing, normally quite fraught but the kids like the experience and I like it as it’s a night of cooking and washing up! Last time they went they ended up sitting on the floor under the table playing with a few toys, but they were quiet and out of sight so we left them to it 🙂 Lottie plays restaurants at home now and brings me a menu and some pencils to play with, so cute!

Hello there, thanks so much it’s lovely to hear from you! We are going to try Pizza Express I think, as we have now persuaded him to eat pizza! We try and take plenty to keep him occupied, as you say it’s usually fraught but it’s lovely not to have to wash up! xxx